Monday, February 5, 2018

I go through creative cycles. I'll sew a lot for awhile. Then maybe I'll want to sit and do needlework for a month. Maybe I'll get seriously into drawing for a bit. But now I am coming back around to jewelry making.

I don't like to go to the craft store and buy a bunch of stuff and then simply assemble it. I mean, I do like that very much, but one of my creative goals is to make some of - or all of - the beads that I use. I found a tutorial on making "turquoise" beads with polymer clay, so I spent the weekend working on these. (And I like the look of the turquoise beads mixed with a red/orange coral bead, so I just applied the same techniques to creating orange clay "coral" beads.)

After I roll them and bake them, I like to give them a nice thin coat of varnish. Here they are drying in the sun.

The next day, when the varnish was dry, I began stringing. I'm using a thin hemp cord to connect them. I'm very bad at winding wire and making clasps, so I really like making long necklace with no clasps. (I need to work on that.) You can see my sketchy plan beneath the beds.

The above necklace is all "Turquoise" and the below one - the half moon - has the coral beads mixed in. I'm really happy with how they turned out. I'm going to crank out some more for the Spring and Summer craft shows.

Winter is still bitter cold here, but the snow is gone. I am ready for the buds of Spring to come and bring some warmth and color to New England. But until then, I'll just have to make my own.

Thanks so much for stopping in and checking on me.
Have a lovely week!